policy of the first term in office. though it's a failure that he didn't necessarily have a lot of control over. at the beginning of his first term, the president declared with great fanfare he wouldn't follow the lead of his predecessors presidents clinton and bush and wait until a second term to push for middle east peace. >> we're not going to wait until the end of my administration to deal with palestinian and israeli peace. we're going to start now. >> instead, not only did the peace process go nowhere, it's actually taken a step back. when the president sets off for israel on tuesday, he travels with very low expectations. that's probably the bit of good news. from the outset the president pressed israel hard on what a two-state solution would look like. >> israelis must acknowledge that just as israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can palestine's. the united states does not accept the legitimacy of continued israeli settlements. it is time for these settlements to stop. >> president obama's relations